OOT Gift Bags/Baskets

B.dry · February 2010

FI and I are deciding whether or not to give out of town guests a gift bag or basket upon their arrival. On one hand, I really feel like it's a nice touch, esspecially since they have traveled to see us get married but on the other hand, a majority of our guests are out of town guests.

What are you doing?

SteveandKris · February 2010

I think its a nice touch, but check and make sure your hotel won't charge you a fee (ours won't to hand them out at check-in, but its $3 a bag to have it placed in the guest's room) - I didn't think of that when trying to determine how much to spend.

MyNameIsNot · February 2010

I think this is one of those things that the wedding industry uses to convince you to spend more money. If you have gobs of cash, go for it, but it is in no way necessary.

We did do a welcome letter with another printed copy of all the maps and directions (I'm sure everyone wouldn't bring their invites), a local tourism guide, need to know info about the area, the day after BBQ, etc. We were able to do those with office supplies we had on hand and got the guides for free, and the hotel passed them out for free.

ExpatPumpkin · February 2010

We had a DW so everyone was OOT and we did welcome gifts. They were actually quite elaborate, but we had the budget for it. I think they were worth it, though; and we got a ton of compliments on them.

As PP pointed out, the hotel may charge you for room delivery. Ours charged $5/room.

MyNameIsNot · February 2010

I simply do not see the point of putting "interesting info about the area"

We did this. I knew that our families would still want to go to mass the next morning, so we included a service schedule and directions for the closest churches. The other thing that fell into that category is that you can't buy alcohol on Sundays in Georgia. Since it was a holiday weekend, quite a few of our guests were staying through Monday. We knew that some of them would want to hang out at the hotel pool on Sunday, so they'd want to know that.

We didn't include anything about the world's largest ball of twine, but it can be interesting info. Not everyone comes right before and leaves right after the wedding. Some people decide to make a weekend of it, since they are travelling anyway.

AdeleDazeem · February 2010

I understand why people feel like they have to do it, Leah. And yes, some people do make a weekend of it. But I feel like those people are the minority and if they are really interested in staying longer, they'd seek out the info on their own.

I also think some common sense is helpful. A list of 37 restaurants and near by amusement parks, complete with maps of the town and a tour book (I've gotten this)? Holy unnecessary. A short list of a few churches offering servies the next day and a one sentence mention of Georgia crazy alcohol laws? Appreciated, but I'd probably still not do much with it other than jot down the name of a church and ask the front desk for directions.

rgeddy · February 2010

We're planning on it. We're doing local soda, crackers & map w/details of events etc. You could just do a simple card or envelope with some printed details.

cabledawg09 · February 2010

We plan on doing this for our OOT guests. Cheese (what my hometown is known for all over the U.S.), crackers, a personal note and some info of the good hiking/beaches for siteseeing as the hotel is 2 blocks from the ocean.

Might think up some other little things to put in there, or I'm sure my mom will throw in some stuff she has. Super cheap and they give our OOT guests a taste of my hometown.

We have people coming as far away as the middle east ( fiance's best man) so I want my guests to take something nice with them...not just candy or pop.

SarahS62205 · February 2010

I think it's important to provide guests with at least a little touch of something, especially if you have many that are coming from out of town. Definitely save money by having your gifts given out at the check-in desk if the hotel charges a fee to put them in the room, becuase that is ridiculous. I traveled about four hours for my best friend's wedding and she did a simple gift bag with a couple bottles of water and some chips combined with info about the wedding and rehearsal dinner. It was just great to see the appreciation from the B&G, given that the guests travel and also bring a gift. A small token of appreciation I think makes that much of a difference in the feeling surrounding your day of joy.

ExpatPumpkin · February 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_customs-traditions_oot-gift-bagsbaskets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:36Discussion:8bc14a02-f967-461c-b086-d63d9880d3afPost:35d7cb1c-795b-446d-b493-a8764f374a27">Re: OOT Gift Bags/Baskets</a>:
[QUOTE]Expat- After reading your response I checked out your bio. I really like you OOT baskets. I wanted to do a basket also but didn't want to do anything bulky as people will be traveling across the country. Where did you get those paper baskets? Also if you don't mind answering, what exactly were in your baskets? They look really nice and well put together! Thanks!
Posted by michaela48[/QUOTE]

<div>Hello and thanks! The boxes were purchased from <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.papermart.com">www.papermart.com</a> - I think they were hat boxes. But I'm not sure. We chose them because we didn't want people feeling guilty about leaving the actual container at the hotel...</div><div>
</div><div>Everyone was OOT, and we wanted to really thank them for traveling. Since our wedding was at a ski resort we put in some "winter stuff" along with local food, etc. </div><div>
</div><div>These were the contents:</div><div>
</div><div>- welcome letter (tri-fold, contents under Timeline tab in my bio)</div><div>- bottle of wine</div><div>- 2 bottles of water</div><div>- cheese from a nearby organic farm</div><div>- crackers</div><div>- personalized M&M's - that's what's in the little rectangular pillow boxes</div><div>- chapstick*</div><div>- kleenex*</div><div>- hand warmers*</div><div>* in the little felt drawstring bags</div><div>
</div><div>We had fun with them and our guests really enjoyed them. Good luck with your OOT bags and let me know if you have any additional questions.</div><div>
</div>

bbyckes · February 2010

That's a great OOT bag. I was thinking about using regional items and including them in the gift bags, like peaches and Vidallia onions -- but it just reads farmer's market to me, instead of wedding.

ExpatPumpkin · February 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_customs-traditions_oot-gift-bagsbaskets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:36Discussion:8bc14a02-f967-461c-b086-d63d9880d3afPost:3192ce19-61b3-43ae-beed-00d579003e65">Re: OOT Gift Bags/Baskets</a>:
[QUOTE]That's a great OOT bag. I was thinking about using regional items and including them in the gift bags, like peaches and Vidallia onions -- but it just reads farmer's market to me, instead of wedding. :/
Posted by bbyckes[/QUOTE]

<div>I would definitely do the peaches! Maybe not the onions, because you wouldn't eat them raw and they'd be a smelly thing to put in your suitcase and take home. But ripe Georgia peaches sound amazing ;)</div>

squirrly · February 2010

I concur on the peaches. I'm doing a bunch of Kentucky stuff in ours. Bourbon, ale-8 soda, local candies, and some local toiletries. And then some generic snacks and info about the area.

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